Wall  so amd made from bagasse amd analogous fibers



May 29, 1923.

1457285 J. maw-mw WALL BOARD MADE FROM BAGASSE AND ANALOGOUS FIBERS Filed Oc'i.. 225 1920 ll Irl" E. l)

JOHN E.

straw, or ivrrnniiarorrs,

Para

Application To L7/Z who/m if; may concern Be it lrnovvn that l, lortu l. SHAW, a citizen ot the United States, residinrdr at inneapolis, in the county ot Hennepin an State ot ll/linncsota, have invented certain new and useitul lmprovements in llilall Boards Made from Bagasse and Analogrous llFibers; and .l do hereby declare the tollovving to be a ull, clear, and exact description oit the invention, such as Will enable others skilled. in the art to which it appertains to made and use the same.

This invention relates to liber Wall boards made 'trono bagasse and analogous fibers and has for its object to provide a product oit this nature which vivill be more e'liicient in use and less expensive to produce than those heretofore proposed.

W'ith these and other objects in view the invention consists in the novel details ot construction constituting the board, all as `will be more fully hereinafter disclosed and particularly pointed. out in the claims.

lleterringr to the accompanying drawings 'forming a part oit this specification in which lilre numerals designate lilre parts in all the views:

Figure l is a diagrammatic sectional view off: machine suitable l'or making; boards from bagasse and analogous `Fibers in acw cordance with this invention;

Figure E2 is a diagrammatic side elevational view oi a board made in accordance with this invention;

Figure 3 is an exaggerated diagrammatic sectional view illustrating the construction oit a bagasse bundle et' Fibers with its outer casing partially removed; and

lFigure l is likewise an exaggerated diagramma-tic vievir illustrating, a bundle ol. bagasse fibers after the outer casing has been removed.

.ln order t at the precise invention may be the more clearly understood the process o" preparing fibers and the manner ol intervveaving or entangling the saine will be dis closed, and then the differences between this board and the prior boards ivill be pointed out. l

its regards the process o?v preparingrbaeiasse and analogous iibers vlor inalrinp,h this particular Wall board, it is Well known 'that not only bagasse Vlibere but a large number ot other fibers have been heretotore treated by boiling With caustic soda and other solu filed ctobcr i233, 1920.

Serial No. flieen.

tions for the purpose ot meltingl paper there- Ylirorn, but in so 'tar as l', am aware, all oit such prior treatments have been more or ses drastic in that in order to maire paper, it is necessary to use comparatively large quantities ot alkali in the solution, and it is necessary that the boiling be prolonged beyond the point at which the particular ber product useful ttor making;a this Wall board can be produced.

ln addition to this, when using bagasse Vibers the prior processes have invariably either mechanically denuded said fibers ol their pith before the treatment with Athe alkali solution, or else the chemical treatment has been, carried. out itor such a length ot time as to dissolve said pith. 'The result, in either case, has been that the prior linished fibers, unlihe those produced tor mali in@I this board, have been substantially smooth and devoid or their natural pith, While more or less oit the cellulosic content of the fibers themselves has been dissolved out and lost.

ln making fibers to be used in the Wall board 'forming the basis ot this invention, on the other hand, although ll may employ any suitable chemical to coolr the saine, yet l prefer a solution ot caustic soda. l. may use either a strong solution lor a very short time, or l, may use wealr solution lor a longer time, but in all cases the total time or cooking is very much shorter' than heretofore been. customary in treating bagasse and analogous ibers. rthat is to say, soda which may be equal only to about 5% ot the bone dry Weight ot the bastasse, said Weight ol' caustic soda 'would vary trono, say, 2% to 1,0%, or higher, o'f the bone solution ot this said caustic soda and ivater ano in this solution, to, say, from l to 4l hours at temperature ot trom, say, i500 l?. to 211.20 upon the physical nature of the particular ln all cases, Whether using a Wealr or a strong; solution in l'. may, 'tor example, talre a weight oit caustic but, ot course,

dry weight ot the bagasse.

then malte a.

l heat the bagasse hbers atmospheric pressure, and

lu depending fibers being' treated.

the coolring;r operation, l.

am care'lul to only treat the fibers sutlicicntly to loosen up the outer encrusting casing ol: said fibers so that when the latter are passed through a beating engine and a'sieving alpparatus, this said encrustinp; casing may be readily and mechanically separated from is indicated in Figure 4, with the result the fibers themselves. that they are capable of interlocking or en` In other Words, referring more especially tangling with each other, or felting toto Figure 3, an import-ant feature of this gether, in the true sense of the word, just treatment resides in the fact that the cookas do wool fibers, a result not heretofore at- 70 ing action is stopped as soon as the outer tained in vegetable fiber boards, as far as casing l is loosened up from the bundle of I am aware. Said fibers 2 illustrated in fibers 2, and before the accompanying pith Figure 4 of course, are broken up by the is dissolved out. and also before any valubeating engine into much shorter lengths l0 able cellulosic content of the fibers has been. than said figure indicates, the particular 75 ost. length depending upon the mechanical By thus partially cooking the bagasse treatment thereof. and they are mixed with and analogous fibers l find that I can sewater and fed through a pipe 5. Figure l. cure from, say, 65% to 80% of the bone to the tank 6, so that a mixture of fibers dry weight of the original material, which and water,l 7 passes up and down between 80 is a yield almost double that of any prethe bafiies 8. and thus become thoroughly vious process of treatment with which T. mixed together. am acquainted. It should be said, however, The water is preferably maintained at a that'this relatively large yield of material head 9 above the belt or traveling ioramii is due partially, at least, to the fact that nous surface l0, so that the mixture of 85 substantially all of the pith originally asfibers and water will pass in the direction sociated with the fibers is found to remain of the arrows to said traveling foraminous therewith and to form valuable felting prosurface 1,0. whereupon the water will pass tu erances,.as will appear more fully herethrough and escape by the passage 11, while inafter. the fibers themselves will strike said belt 90 Not only does the partial cooking of the in a direction more or less transversely` bers produce the important results just to its direction of travel, and will be carried set forth, but inv addition to this, .l find along with said belt to the point 12, as will that the strength of the original fibers 2 be readily understood.

is not impaired in the least, which is in ther portions of said water will escape 95 marked contrast to the effect produced by through the rotating foraminous surface 13 the prior processes, which so drastically of the drum 14, other portions of said fibers cook the same that the original strength of will likewise strike said surface 13 in a dithe fibers is very materially lessened. rection more or less perjwndicular to its It is further found in this said partial direction of travel, and the latter will likc- 100 cooking operation that the alkali or otherl wise be carried toward the point 12. chemical employed forms valuable water In the meantime, the third portion of the. soluble compounds with the casing material fibers will be carried between the two sets 1, and its associated constituents. These of fibers thus formed, on the surfaces l() and said compoundsy may be re-precipitated, 13, and will be likewise carried to the conm5 later, upon the fibres, as by addingr alumiverging point 12, so that all the fibers will num sulphate to the solution, so that the be entangled or felted with each other. But

bers in the finished board may be firmly individual fibers 2, having the interlocking bound together as well as waterproofed. projections 3 and 4, as illustrated in Figure The fibers having been partially cooked, 4, will by the actions just disclosed be so no as above dlsclosed, the individual bundles positively interlocked, and strongly interof fibers 2 are passed into any suitable beatwoven, or felted togetherE that the homoing apparatus and through any suitable geneity and tenacity of the resulting board screening apparatus, not shown, whereupon will be much greater than in prior boards.

the casing material 1l is removed. After In addition to this. thcindividualstrength U5 this mechanical treatment the character of of said fibers due to tbc ireatmrnt above disan individual bundle of fibers 2, will be closed, being so much greater than that of best understood by reference to Figure 4. wood or other fibers which have been herc- That is to say, certain individual fibers lettofore employed in boards of this same gen tered 3 in Figure 3, will be found to be eral character, this board is very much 12 broken and their ends will form hook like stronger and it wears very much better in projections also lettered 3 in Figure 4. use than any other analogous product with lso, lthe pith having been dissolved as whichIam familiar. 0f course. it is underabove stated, will be found to be clinging stood that after the above three classes of 50 to the bundles of fibers 2 and will form intertangled fibers have been brought to the 125 the protuberances or projections 4 illuspoint 12 they suffer a slight compression betrafed in Figurev 4. tween the said surfaces l0 and 13. and also other words, the fibers 2 thus produced as they pass between the drum 14 and the will ,foundy unusually strong and flexible roll 16, so that the board 17 emerges from 051 and to be'very rough on their exterior as the machine as illustrated in Figure 1. 130

las*

The amount oi compression that is iinparted to the board 17 Will depend upon 'the use to which it is to be put. lil: the tinisl product is to be used as a Wall covering, and as a heat insulator, the pressure in'iparted is not very great; because in that case the boarc. should contain a comparatively large quantity of air in its body portion, and in such cases, I pieter to oive it only such a pressure as Will cause it to have a specific gravity comparable to that ot cork, tor then find that its heat insulating powers ar also about as great as cork.

ln order to enhance the beat insulatii g properties oil the board7 l. ilecd to the iniA ture 7 coarse fibers 2O well as tine Atibers 21. The 'former provide relatively large air cells, after the board is compressed. and the latter divide up said cells7 add streun b. and act as a filling' material` ln other cases, when I Wish to add density to the board. without materially iiugin'rine,v its heat in sulating qualities, l add Wood7 llaa7 er other fibers 22 oi various sizes. Finch latter l'ioards may have. say, trein 10% to 90% bagassc fibers. and from 90% to 10% of other fibers adniixed therewith.

On the other hand, it the board is required to have greater strength? then l compress it to such a degree as will cause it to have the desired tenacity and density. lt may then be in some cases, compressed to such a dez@free as to be hard and [iria like luinber, when it will be found stronger than inany grades oi lumber, and to be iifanabie et being saived, nailed, and hammered, precisely aslumber. Especially does such a board make a valuable substitute :tor high grades of lumber to be used in trunlrs7 suit cases.J furniture, etc.

A. lesser compression7 however, will inalate the board softer and more pliable and thus enable it to be used in place ot other setter kinds of lumber.

Actual tests have shown boards coinpressed to 400 pounds to the square inch when made in accordance with this iuveo tion, to possess a tensile strength circeedi. 5 112,000 pounds, While similar boards inade et' flax, Wood and other fibers acc-ordino: to the prior" processes, only snowed a tensile strength oit about 1,100 pounc s, or less than one tenth the ,strength of this board.

ln .my copendingr appliszation Serial llo. 3685995; tiled lilarch 26, 19520, and eniiitlef'.l Fiber boards oil telted interlaced fibers. hare disclosed and claimed a board similar to this invention, but in that case the board composed ot distiiict layers et libere, 'tering distinctly from this board.

fa .ea

ln this board, on the other hand, ordinary letting machines may be employed and the layers of material differing in kind trein the body ot the board are not produced.

It is obvious that these skilled in the art met details oll coiistructioii Without depurtii i irons. the spirit el the invention, and tliei tore7 l; do not wish to be limited to the above disclosure except as may be require l. by the clfftiins.

l. 'lhe herein described liber board coiniposed ot bundles oit fibers interlaced with each other,` and more than ten per cent ot sai d tiber bundles curfyingj; natural pith like protuberanees and hoolr like projections serving; as entengegling; agents between the libera substz nelly described.

E23. The herein described .tiliier board composed et fibers interlaced with each other, and :more than thirty per cent o said fibers ourryingjf` nurtiuafl jolth lile beat insulatingf nrotuberances ru'l hook like projections scia/iisgV enl ding; aoeuts between the fibers. substantial. 7 as d ibed.

The herein described i'iber boord conih c inn; bundles ol1 fibers d libere carryin, their iaith in the erin o; iuotuberances attached to tie indi alv tibo.'I bundles und lirivi'ui;` hoolf, lilre nrojeetions which otter resistance when one liber bundle tends to slip over another tiber bundle, sul'isantially described.

t. '.lhe herein described liber board coinnosed ot nit-h carrying be libere inten lac-ed with cach othen tibers carrying; ieir iaith in Athe torni ol nrotuberances attached to the indiv l in ay ya ry the iut i otheiz i .ual libere 7which otler resistance when one liber tends to slib over another liber7 substantially describe-d.

ilhe herein described heat insulating fiber board composed et bagasse iibers o'i different eines carrying` their natural pith and interlaced -With each oth er, s ..bstan'tiallv as described. G. The her 'n described fiber board comjnosed oil bal interlaced with each other and cai y.; their natural nith, said .tibers beine: highly coruyiressed together to :torni a board et great tensile and breaking strength for use as a substitut-e lor lumber or leather 'in the inanutacture ot' APiu-ifiiture, liao/reisje and other articles.y substantially described.

'i'. 'llie herein dcslu'ibed liber board coinnosed oi" oitli carryine` Vlibere intern laced u* e other and admired with tber i l uds ot libere,

substu uti ally se like fibers ini pound dissolved from said fibers when in their natural condition, substantially as de scribed.

10. The herein described fiber board com- 5. posed of pit-h carrying bagasse fibers interlaced with each other; sind fibers being in the form of bundles of diferent sizes; and

said bundles being bound together by a compound dissolved from said fibers when in their natural state, substantially :is de- 10 scribed.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

JOHN K. SHAW. 

